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<br /> <br />CHAPlER 4 <br /> <br />WARNING DISSEMINATION AND PUBLIC RESPONSE <br /> <br />The lead forecaster at WSFO Denver came on duty at 4:00 p.m., July 31, 1976. <br />He replaced the day shift forecaster who had been issuing severe thunderstorm <br />warnings for portions of Colorado eastward of the Front Range. It should <br />be noted that WSFO Denver had issued 134 severe thunderstorm warnings <br />and 10 tornado warnings since mid-April of this year, but that no flash <br />flood warnings had been issued since July 31, 1975. In other words, they <br />see many severe thunderstorms without flash flooding. <br /> <br />Warnings <br /> <br />Based on radar information, with no substantiating reports of heavy rainfall, <br />high winds, or hail from the storm area, the lead forecaster at WSFO Denver <br />issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 7:35 p.m. <br /> <br />BULLETIN IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED <br />735 PM MDT JUL 31 1976 <br />THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE <br />THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 9 PM MDT <br />EASTERN LARIMER COUNTY COLORADO AT 735 PM MDT <br />RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES <br />SOUTHWEST OF FORT COLLINS COLORADO MOVING TOWARD <br />THE NORTHNORTHWEST AT 10 MPH <br />THERE COULD BE SOME FLOODING OF LOW AREAS... <br />ESPECIALLY JUST TO THE WEST OF FORT COLLINS <br /> <br />During the next hour the lead forecaster was unsuccessful in his attempts <br />to determine what rainfall amounts were in the storm area. He called the <br />only rain gage observation points he knew or thought about. At one of <br />these, on the Cache la Poudre River, the observer was not at home. He <br />called Fort Collins police station and found that it wasn't raining there <br />and that the Poudre River level was low. The radar continued to show <br />the echoes with high tops over the Estes Park area with the storms moving <br />northward about 10 mph. Accordingly, the lead forecaster decided to <br />issue a special statement. <br /> <br />SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT <br />NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO <br />9PM MDT SAT JUL 31 1976 <br />THERE IS A LINE OF MODERATE TO HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS <br />FROM IDAHO SPRINGS NORTHWARD TO THE WYOMING BORDER. <br />THE THUNDERSHOWERS ARE MOVING SLOWLY WHICH COULD <br />RESULT IN SOME LOCAL FLOODING IN THE FOLLOWING <br />COLORADO COUNTIES...NORTHERN CLEAR..BOULDER.. <br />LARIMER AND EXTREME EASTERN JACKSON. <br />PERSONS NEAR THE THUNDERSHOWERS SHOULD BE ON <br />THE ALERT FOR THE HEAVY THUNDERSHOWERS. <br />THE RAIN COULD BE HEAVY UNTIL ABOUT MIDNIGHT. <br />This statement is essentially a flash flood watch but is not so designated. <br /> <br />33 <br />